GEORGETOWN, Texas
More than 1,800 Sport Clips Haircuts locations, including company-owned stores, have been through rolling, temporary closures in 2020. Even through a pandemic and its associated business disruptions, Sport Clips put its team members and franchisees first and by doing so is able to keep its promise to support philanthropies through its Haircuts with Heart program.
"Our team members and franchisees are our priority, even when stores were closed and revenue ceased for a time. Because of that, they've come back strong after closures and helped us maintain our resolve to support the many philanthropies important to the brand," says Edward Logan, Sport Clips president and CEO. "Hair care is our primary focus, but giving back is part of who we are as a company. Our guiding principles for the past 27 years have been and will remain: Do what’s right, Do your best; and Treat others the way they want to be treated."
The philanthropies Sport Clips supports as a part of its Haircuts with Heart include:
Sport Clips Help A Hero Scholarship Program
The VFW’s "Sport Clips’ Help A Hero Scholarship" program has contributed more than $8 million to the VFW since 2013, with its primary focus on funding scholarships for service members and veterans working toward finishing their education and taking the next steps in their post-military careers. By providing scholarships for use at post-secondary schools, including trade schools, our goal is to make the transition from a military career to the civilian workforce a little easier. The company just completed its annual, in-store fundraiser with a goal to collect $1 million and fund another 200 scholarships.
St. Baldrick’s Foundation
In 2016, Sport Clips Haircuts signed on as St. Baldrick’s Foundation’s first national sponsor, committing to give more than $1 million dollars in support of childhood cancer research over the next three years. In 2019, the brand agreed to another three-year, $1 million commitment to St. Baldrick’s to continue to support its cancer research funding. Sport Clips joined the fight against cancer in local communities by assisting in raising funds for childhood cancer research while also supporting and hosting local shave events. In 2020, when St. Baldrick’s went virtual due to the pandemic, Sport Clips continued to support the organization through online events and social media promotion.
American Red Cross
Since September 2015, Sport Clips has supported the American Red Cross Blood Services through its annual Saving Lives Never Looked So Good! Campaign. During September, presenting donors receive a coupon for a free haircut that can be redeemed at participating Sport Clips locations. Through our continued commitment to the Red Cross, Sport Clips’ Team Members and clients understand the need for blood and platelets never goes away and is often drastically increased when disasters strike. Sport Clips just completed its sixth campaign with the Red Cross, helping the group collect more than 356,000 units of blood and platelets and giving more than 14,000 free haircuts to blood donors.
Dream Flights Foundation
Sport Clips is the primary sponsor for Dream Flights Foundation (formerly Ageless Aviation Dreams Foundation), a non-profit organization established and dedicated to honoring seniors and United States military veterans and their spouses. Through donations, and with its all-volunteer group, including the pilots who provide the flights, the foundation provides once-in-a-lifetime “Dream Flights” to veterans, many of whom served during WWII, in a Boeing Stearman biplane, the same aircraft used to train many military aviators in the late thirties and early forties. Dream Flights hosts between 800 to 1,000 flights each year, covering most of the United States. The organization recently announced Operation September Freedom, a bold plan to fly all WWII veterans beginning August 1, 2021 and Sport Clips is proud to be a primary sponsor of this special event. Dream Flight requests for WWII veterans are accepted at https://dreamflights.org/honor/.
Aleethia Foundation
The mission of the Aleethia Foundation is to support injured service members with therapeutic recreation, small financial grants, family emergency aid, assistive technology items, and home improvements to assist with an injured service member's mobility and other unmet needs. Sport Clips is a sponsor of “Friday Night Dinners” that provide injured veterans and their families with the opportunity to enjoy a meal while socializing – an integral part of the healing process.
Honor Flight Network (Austin)
Honor Flight Network is a non-profit organization created solely to honor America’s veterans for their sacrifices. Honor Flight transports our heroes to Washington, D.C. to visit and reflect at their memorials. Top priority is given to senior veterans – WWII in particular, along with other veterans who may be terminally ill. Sport Clips specifically supports the Austin, Texas Honor Flight division.
VetFran
VetFran was founded in 1991 as a strategic initiative of the International Franchise Association and the Franchise Education and Research Foundation. Its mission is to educate veterans and franchisors about the unique match between the two as well as to assist veterans in their transition/entrance into franchising. Qualified veterans who are interested in owning a Sport Clips are eligible for a 20 percent discount off the franchise fee through participation in VetFran.
Eric Gozur-Wayne McGlone Memorial Relief Fund
Helping each other is the most important benefit of being part of a team. Caring is at the core of the Sport Clips values system and the Sport Clips Eric Gozur-Wayne McGlone Memorial Relief Fund is one of the many ways this is demonstrated. The Gozur-McGlone Relief Fund has awarded more than $3.1 million in grants to Sport Clips Team Members who suffer unforeseen tragedies such as illness, accidents, tornadoes, fires, floods, and more.
To find out more about these philanthropies, check out the links above or visit sportclips.com/about-us/haircuts-with-heart.